There have, heretofore, been various types of cigarette dispensing and igniting structures heretofore designed. Some of these previous structures may be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,370,631, 1,608,615, 2,132,771, 3,351,735 and 3,361,894.
The previously patented structures for igniting cigarettes are reasonably simple in construction, but most previously patented dispensers for cigarettes including cigarette ignition means are complex in structure and thus expensive and subject to malfunctions. In addition, most cigarette dispensers, whether or not provided with cigarette ignition means, are constructed in a manner whereby the dispensed cigarette is dispensed by gravity to a horizontal support station from which the dispensed cigarette may be withdrawn by grasping the central portion of the cigarette between two fingers. However, in order to provide relatively simple cigarette ignition structure for use in conjunction with a cigarette dispenser, the cigarette to be ignited may not be disposed in a horizontal position. When one end of a horizontally disposed cigarette is horizontally registered with an electrical resistance heating element initial partial ignition of the end of the cigarette adjacent the electrical resistance heating element increases the spacing between the material to be ignited and the heating element with the result that only partial ignition of the cigarette is accomplished, at least in some cases.